By Kim Eun-jung SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean military is pushing to deploy spy satellites to strengthen its surveillance of North Korea, a senior military official said Wednesday, in light of growing missile and nuclear threats from the communist country.

South Korea currently operates Arirang-3, a multipurpose satellite, which provides geographical information on the Korean Peninsula, including on North Korea's missile and nuclear test sites. However, it still relies on the United States for much of its intelligence due to the commercial satellite's limited vision and longer rotation period.